Why the Rapture may be sooner than many people think.

Simon of Cyrene

[link to en.wikipedia.org (secure)]

Surrender and be Born Again.

Surrender; to give up, to yield power to another
Being Born Again; The work of the Holy Spirit.

Many have their own interpretation of God's message.
They insist they CAN and MUST make it happen in their own strength. (Demanding others to do likewise)
To them, being the "very" elect or even to be born again means to strive real, real hard to trust in God.
It is exhausting to be a religious person like that.

Saying things like, "weak Christians are not willing to trust God enough.." in effect, saying it is a work of man and not a free gift from God.

They believe they have to "trust God enough" to go through the Great Tribulation.
Some believe they will "be tested" by suffering through God's Wrath on earth for the last 3 1/2 years to endure to the very end.

Collecting a handful of bible verses to prove their stubborn stand (of no rapture), they will not be persuaded from their position.
I do not argue with them anymore. They believe what they believe.

Genesis 5 tells of Enoch, who walked with God and was taken into Heaven.
God took Enoch.
Raptured him.
That is enough for me to know that God can rapture anybody He chooses.

Believe in the rapture or don't.

To forsake this world & commit to follow Jesus Christ is an astonishing achievement that can only be attributed to God's redeeming power. To surrender and be born again is a work of God. It is GODS WORK.
It is God at work IN YOU that enables you to believe and do His Will. (Phil 2)

Some men try to take credit for what God does and they are called Religious.
Religion can't save you.
Even if you trust real, real hard.

For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment) Christs' Salvation is the gift of God - a washing of the new birth and the giving of new life in the Holy Spirit.

Surrender
Be Born Again

You miss my point (as usual).

A black man carrying the cross has nothing to do with a black man obtaining forgiveness in the Collective Conscious.

I have no idea why I waste my time; I am a martyr to my own generosity.

:portx: I think that you have a nasty surprise coming to you.

Your point was not my point. Your typical point merely reminded me of something you never knew... and somebody else appreciates it... Gratitude or Ingratitude..

There is a war coming...

How do you know?

Because we're going to start it!

the Geneva bible translation...

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and that that man of sin be disclosed, even the son of perdition.

who is departing... the body of Christ

:growlbear: And Jesus Christ is going to end it. And it wont be pretty, here's the biblical story of how the Prophet Elijah had the 850 false priests of Baal slaughtered. FIRE STARTER?... [link to www.chick.com (secure)]

:8501::8502:
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That's alright sometimes I wonder myself. Living in Europe

your 8 or 9pm is the middle of the night for me. So now it's early evening for me (+5 hours EDT) and I've about 3 pages of replies to go through just to catch up. LOL

You do not appear to have gasped the concept that after the Rapture the Church Age is over. Except for small faithful churches scattered here and there, the rest are just useless dead wood led by lukewarm pastors. My understanding is that the Rapture will wake up many of those who have been left behind and they will be saved by a direct and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As indeed am I and many others in the here and now. Sad to say, but my impression from your reply is that you are lacking that direct relationship yourself.

But you are right in that "my purpose was to plant seeds." But that's in the here and now, not some indefinite date in the future when you might not even be here. Don't worry I'm sure that the Lord will find plenty for you to do in heaven, but first of all you have to rekindle that relationship.That requires personal prayer and a personal relationship, don't let various doctrines and old beliefs hold you back and confuse you. What was good will still be good, and what was error will fall away. Make a start today, set aside a half hour of quiet time (Many Christians nowadays get in their cars and go somewhere quiet if they live in a busy household.) I do pray that things will go well for you.

And don't give Me that shit about Baal and "child sacrifices"; that is more Judeo ……………. Propaganda.

Here is THE TRUTH:

...………………...

SO GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT ABOUT WHO IS GOOD AND WHO IS EVIL

:sitquiet: People like you actually serve a useful purpose. You have come on this thread these last couple of days

and made 60 or so posts absolutely overflowing with uncontroled anger, venom, spite and lies. What is the average reader who wants to know more about the Rapture to think of it all? Because it is people like you who are going to rule the roost after we have been taken out of the way, for a very short season.

I can understand your anger, because the bible states that the Devil will be filled with it because he knows that his time is short and obviously as you are one of his minions, you reflect the will of your master. I very much hope that lukewarm Christians and other people searching for the truth will take note of it, because if they are left behind then they will be at the mercy of people like you.

As for you, assuming that you actually survive until the day that the Lord returns, you will face eternity with your face literally covered in shame. That I believe will smell and feel just as bad a million years hence, as it did on they day that your face was smeared in it. You will be tormented in the presence of the angels who will look on you narrowly as they will be aware of all the evil that you did during your lifetime. And then one awful day you will be cast alive into the lake of fire, there to have the smoke of your torment rising up for ever and ever.

However despite all your evil ways, you have still been blessed with a little time while you can repent and be saved. Don't waste it.

Mal 2:3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

you do realize this is a jesuit teaching that didn't come about until the last 500 years or so? Until the jesuits introduced this teaching NO ONE on the planet ever believed or taught such a belief.

Thank you. So your position is that the "last chance" is only up to the rapture? The gospel is not spread anymore after the rapture, and anyone left behind is basically on their own with God? That makes the idea make more sense. And my conviction to plant seeds was not necessarily meant for tribulation, but simply before it's too late....

you do realize this is a jesuit teaching that didn't come about until the last 500 years or so? Until the jesuits introduced this teaching NO ONE on the planet ever believed or taught such a belief.

:german7: Really? How come it's in the gospels then.

:german7: Really? How come it's in the gospels then.

Ephraem’s Teaching on the Pre-Tribulation Rapture

“For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the Tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins”

(On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World, by Ephraem the Syrian, A.D. 373).

The early Christian writer and poet, Ephraem the Syrian (who lived from A.D. 306 to 373), was a major theologian of the early Byzantine Eastern Church. He was born near Nisbis in the Roman province of Syria, near present-day Edessa, Turkey.

[link to pretribulation.com (secure)]

Two Pretribulational References in the Early Church

"1. The Shepherd of Hermas (95-150)

The Shepherd of Hermas was written between 96-150 AD. This document provides a statement that resembles a teaching of a pre-trib rapture doctrine. Though it is not exactly as found in modern day scholarly pretribulational writings, it still shows that an idea existed in some degree that God's people could escape the future tribulation that was to come on the whole earth. The text reads:

"You have escaped from the great tribulation on account of your faith, and because you did not doubt in the presence of such a beast. Go, therefore, and tell the elect of the Lord His mighty deeds, and say to them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming. If then ye prepare yourselves, and repent with all your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible for you to escape it, if your heart be pure and spotless, and ye spend the rest of the days of your life serving the Lord blamelessly."..."


"2. Victorinus ( Well known by 270 and died in 303 A.D.)

Victorinus wrote a commentary on the book of Revelation. In one place he made an interesting statement that reflects his idea that the church would be removed prior to the tribulation. Of course his ideas were not systematic, and some will argue that he contradicts himself in other places, which may very well be true. But even with such an admission it still serves us well to see that early in the church history someone taught in some sense that God's church could escape the tribulation period by being removed from the earth. His commentary notes in Revelation 6:14 indicate a pre-trib reference of some sort:

"And the heaven withdrew as a scroll that is rolled up." For the heaven to be rolled away, that is, that the Church shall be taken away. "And every mountain and the islands removed from their places intimate that in the last persecution all men departed from their places; that is, that the good will be removed, seeking to avoid persecution..."

[link to www.essentialchristianity.com]

This is a dumb argument anyway.

If you believe something that is True, it does not matter if no one ever knew or believed about it previously.

Surely, some things substantiating Scripture in any number of ways are still being discovered and will continue to be discovered and revealed in the End Times, according to Scripture.

it may be in the bible as you have it, but the teaching was never taught prior to the jesuits putting it out there. Never.

Irenaeus of Lyons 130 - 202

etc...……………………………………...